The present invention relates to a printer suitable, for example, for use with electronic cash registers used in point-of-sale (POS) systems and relates, more particularly, to a printer comprising a cutting mode switching module that selectively performs a partial cut or a full cut of paper passing through a paper path as a result of selective rotational direction of a motor driving the cutting mode switching module.
Printers used in point-of-sale (POS) systems generally print to rolled paper as the recording medium using a thermal head or other type of print head, and comprise a cutter to cut the printed paper to obtain a sales receipt that can be handed to the customer.
Typical of the various cutters employed in such printers are cutters that cut the paper by pushing a cutting blade perpendicularly against the paper as described in JP-A-238970/1994, and cutters that cut the recording paper using a fixed blade and a movable blade as described in JP-U-123482/1979. A scissors-type cutter that cuts the recording paper by moving a movable blade across the paper while cutting the recording paper from one edge to the other is also known as described in JP-U-10953/1990, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,833,380.
Conventional scissors-type modules, however, are restricted to cut either along the entire width of the paper or along a partial width of the paper and must be configured for the desired cut at the time or manufacture.
It is thus needed to design a cutting mode switching module that can selectively perform a partial cut or a full cut of paper passing through a paper path in accordance with the user""s needs.
The object of the present invention is to provide a cutting mode switching module overcoming the problems of the prior art as described above and being able to selectively perform a partial cut or a full cut of paper passing through a paper path as a result of selective rotational direction of a motor driving the cutting mode switching module.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a cutting mode switching module that employs a simple and easy to manufacture construction to obtain the desired effects so as to eliminate the cost that may be needed for providing the switching effect.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a printer including such a cutting mode switching module.
To achieve the above objects, disclosed is a printer including: a fixed chassis mounted on the printer; a moving chassis being engageable with the fixed chassis between an open position and a closed position; and a cutting mode switching module for controlling cutting mode of the printer, characterized in the cutting mode switching module comprising: a fixed blade mounted at the fixed chassis; a moving blade having an elongated pivot hole, through which pivot hole the moving blade is pivoted to a pivot end of the moving chassis such that the moving blade is shiftable within the pivot hole between a first position and a second position, and such that the fixed blade and moving blade is formed with a paper path therebetween when the moving chassis is at the closed position; a motor mounted in the moving chassis; and a crank pin engaging with and cranking the moving blade and driven by the motor to rotate in a first direction or a second direction.